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Friday, July 31, 2009

Posted by KimEmail received from Business of Being Born Facebook Group

Next week, we continue our celebrity webisode series with TV and film actress Melissa Joan Hart. We loved our interview with Melissa Joan because her two birth experiences mirror so many women that we hear from across the country.

Her first child was induced without any medical reason: “I was ready to just get my baby out and get my life going because I had been thinking about it for so long,” she said. What followed was a difficult labor that lasted 24 hours. It took several attempts before the epidural was administered correctly. Melissa’s doctor used a vacuum to assist. “There were three hours of pushing with my doctor saying, ‘One more push and you’re going for a C-section.’ I did whatever the doctors and nurses wanted me to do.” Melissa believes that her first son, Mason, just wasn’t ready to be born at the time she was induced. “I think he would have stayed in there another two weeks. I was mentally ready to have the baby, and because it was my first, I wanted to be done with it and have that experience,” she said.

When Melissa was pregnant with her second child, she wanted to do things differently. At a friend’s recommendation, Melissa enrolled in hypnobirthing classes where she learned relaxation and visualization techniques. “What I took away from hypnobirthing was the idea that you don’t have to be a good patient. You don’t have to do what the doctors and nurses tell you to do. They want to make it pain-free for you, and as easy as possible for them and for you. And they want to make you comfortable. But in hypnobirthing they teach you that birth is not a medical experience, and you have every right to bring the baby into the world however you want to, unless there’s an emergency.”

To hear how Melissa Joan’s second birth turned out, tune into mybestbirth.com next week! Melissa Joan’s story is being sponsored by our good friends at Milkalicious.